Identify the Historical Progression and Significant Contributions
of the Noncommissioned Officer Corps.
400-022-1001
Conditions
You are a small unit leader responsible for 5-10 soldiers. Your responsibilities include leading, caring for, training, and maintaining the soldiers and equipment for whom and which you are held accountable. Part of your role includes motivating and mentoring of potential noncommissioned officers and teaching the history and traditions of the noncommissioned officer corps. You have access to the following: United States Army Center of Military History, The Story of the Noncommissioned Officer Corps--The Backbone of the Army, (CMH Publication 70-38) Washington: GPO, 1989, and DA Pamphlet 600-25, U.S. Army Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Guide, 30 April 1987.
Standards
You have completed this task successfully when you--
1. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer existing in the pre-Revolutionary War period.
2. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Revolutionary War.
3. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the War of 1812.
4. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Civil War.
5. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during World War I.
6. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during World War II.
7. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Korean War.
8. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Vietnam War.
9. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer as it exists today.
Training and Evaluation Guide
Performance Steps
1. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer existing in the pre-Revolutionary War period.
- The roots of the noncommissioned officer system.
- The militia structure existing in colonial America before the Revolutionary War.
2. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Revolutionary War.
a. The role of Baron Frederick William von Steuben.
b. The NCOs and their role in a typical infantry regiment staff.
c. The NCOs and their role in a typical infantry company.
d. The role of the covering sergeant.
3. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the War of 1812.
a. The contribution of Brigadier General Winfield Scott.
b. The role of the color sergeant.
4. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Civil War.
a. The staff NCOs in the typical regiment and companies.
- The change in the NCO role dictated by Major General Silas Casey.
5. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during World War I.
a. The impact of the French and British military on the American NCO Corps.
6. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during World War II.
a. The squad structure.
b. The impact of the creation of specialists and technicians in the NCO Corps.
7. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Korean War.
a. Identify how the lack of experienced NCOs impacted the early war efforts.
b. Identify the impact of the NCO as part of small unit tactics.
8. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Vietnam War.
a. The impact of the NCO as part of small unit tactics.
b. How the Army built up its NCO Corps.
- The relationship between the Officer ranks and NCO ranks.
9. Identify the role of the noncommissioned officers it exists today.
- The steps the Army took to modernize.
- The steps the Army took to improve the professionalism of the NCO Corps.
c. The rank structure of the current NCO corps.
Performance Evaluation Guide
Evaluation Preparation
Setup: Soldier should have access to references as given in task conditions.
Brief Soldier: You must correctly identify 7 of a possible 9 roles of the NCO to receive a GO for this task. You may use your own words. For each numbered measure below, you must identify one of the elements listed to receive a GO on the task.
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Performance Measures. Results
1. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer existing in the pre-Revolutionary War period. Must state one of the following to receive a GO:The American Army copied the structure of the English and continental European Armies. The NCOs role was to ensure the privates stayed in a straight line and moved toward the enemy.
The earliest known NCO system existed in the Roman Legions and appeared again in the French Army under Charles VII in 1445.
Local town or village militias formed to provide protection from Indians and warring European powers. The NCO was needed to lead small units (squad-sized) to counter hit-and-run attacks from Indians, a responsibility unique to NCOs of the colonies.
2. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Revolutionary War. Must state one of the following to receive a GO:
General Washington enlisted the aid of Baron von Steuben (who was appointed Inspector General) to help train the Continental Army. Steuben wrote "Regulations for Order and Discipline of the Troops of the Unites States," commonly called the blue book because of the color of the first edition. This regulation outlined the responsibilities and duties of NCOs.
The typical regiment NCO staff consisted of four NCOs: A Sergeant Major, a quartermaster sergeant, and two senior musicians.
The typical infantry company had one first sergeant, four sergeants (one for each platoon), four corporals (one for each squad), a fifer, and a drummer.
The sergeant was known as the covering sergeant. He stood in the second rank behind the company officer so he could protect or "cover" his captain or lieutenant when in danger.
3. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer during the War of 1812. Must state the following to receive a GO:
A sergeant served as the color sergeant with five to eight corporals in the color guard. The emergence of the color sergeant, who replaced the commissioned ensign (officer) in carrying the flag, enhanced the role of the NCO in combat.
4. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Civil War. Must state one of the following to receive a GO:
The staff NCOs serving on the regimental staff consisted of a sergeant major, a quartermaster sergeant, a commissary sergeant, a hospital stewart, and two musicians.
The company had five sergeants and a number of corporals determined by the total number of privates.
The gradual elimination of linear tactics and move to more open formations increased reliance on the NCO.
5. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer during World War I. Must state one of the following to receive a GO:
The French and British officers noted that the American NCOs had little authority over their men. This was probably because the American Army grouped all enlisted men together while the British and French gave their NCOs a special status.
General Pershing ordered leadership training for NCOs. This much improved the effectiveness of American NCOs.
6. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer during World War II. Must state one of the following to receive a GO:
Squads increased in size from nine to twelve men.
Sergeants became squad leaders and corporals became fire team leaders.
The new technology of war demanded numerous specialists and technicians to operate and maintain the new equipment. The Army introduced the Military Occupational Speciality (MOS) system to track these emerging specialist grades. This had the effect of creating a complex and confusing personnel structure. The new technicians were known as "tech sergeants." Today, the only remaining remnant of the "tech" ranks is the Specialist.
The Army now recognized a need for better training for the men and women who filled the swelling NCO ranks. The first NCO Academy opened in Germany in 1949.
7. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Korean War. Must state one of the following to receive a GO:
The Army relaxed many of its standards at the end of World War II and assumed the duties of an occupational force in Japan and Germany. Many of the NCOs were married and preferred to live at home rather than in the barracks with their men. As a result of their new duties and lack of constant contact with their soldiers, training suffered. The lack of training was readily apparent at the onset of the Korean War as the North Koreans drove the American and other friendly forces almost into the sea at the southern tip of Korea.
The mountainous Korean terrain forced the Army to fight small battles in narrow valleys, river gorges, and other small pockets of land. This meant the NCO played a critical role in leading small units. This solidified the role of the NCO as a small unit leader.
8. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer during the Vietnam War. Must state one of the following to receive a GO:
The U.S. Army fought the Vietnam War, as the Korean War, using small unit tactics. Platoon sergeants, squad leaders, and team leaders were the keys to success.
The short one-year tour in Vietnam resulted in a shortage of experienced NCOs. Promotions to staff sergeant and platoon sergeant came very fast. In order to fill the gaps in the lower NCO grades, the Army produced "shake and bake" NCOs through the Noncommissioned Officer Candidate Course.
A wide social gap began to grow between the lower enlisted (E1 through E5) and the more professional, and older, senior NCOs. Senior ranks now more closely associated with senior officers who had the same experience and age as they did. The lower enlisted displayed animosity towards senior NCOs and officers who seemed to enjoy more "privileges." By the end of the war, the Army recognized it needed to change the climate existing in the NCO corps.
9. Identified the role of the noncommissioned officer as it exists today. Must state one of the following to receive a GO:
As a result of what the Army learned in Vietnam, senior leaders created a Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) in 1971.
Congress ended the draft in 1973 in exchange for a modern, professional army comprised entirely of volunteers. This was the true beginning of the professional NCO Corps we know today.
The current NCO structure includes: (If you choose this element, you must state all 9 levels of the NCO structure from lowest to highest or highest to lowest with respect to rank.)
Corporal.
Sergeant.
Staff Sergeant.
Sergeant First Class
Master Sergeant.
First Sergeant.
Sergeant Major.
Command Sergeant Major.
Sergeant Major of the Army. / GONO GO
GONO GO
GONO GO
GONO GO
GONO GO
GONO GO
GONO GO
GONO GO
GONO GO
Evaluation Guidance: Score the soldier GO if he or she correctly identifies 7 of the possible 9 roles of the NCO. If a performance measure is not correct show the soldier what was wrong, using the proper reference, and how to do it correctly.
References
DA PAM 600-25
CMH Pub 70-38
A Short History of the NCO, U.S. Army Museum of the Noncommissioned Officer, U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, TX
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